Exhibition at Treaty Space Gallery - In Relation: Black Material Life and Memory on Mi’kma’ki

In Relation: Black Material Life & Memory on Mi’kma’ki
May 19 – May 31, 2026

Curated by Nahom Assefa

Opening Reception: Tuesday, May 19, 6:00–8:00 pm
NSCAD Treaty Space Gallery

Featuring works by Edith Clayton, Clara Clayton Gough, Sylvia D. Hamilton, Kwame Owusu Brobbey, Tyshan Wright, Jan Wade, and unknown makers

In Relation explores how Black material culture carries memory, identity, and knowledge across generations and geographies. Through gathered loans, archival materials, contemporary works, and traditional objects, the exhibition considers how craft, skill, and embodied practice sustain histories shaped by displacement, migration, kinship, and exchange.

Rooted in African Nova Scotian, Ethiopian, and broader African diasporic histories, the exhibition asks what it means to live, work, and create in relation to Mi’kma’ki, its original stewards, and the communities who have made home here. It reflects on survival, agency, and knowledge passed hand to hand, often from mother to daughter.

Presented as part of Pathways to Equity: Black and Indigenous Curatorial Mentorship and Cultural Leadership Initiative, developed with Dalhousie Art Gallery and supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program.

Public Program: Panel Discussion

Thursday, May 28, 6:00–7:00 pm
NSCAD Treaty Space Gallery,
1887 Granville St, Halifax, NS

As part of In Relation: Black Material Life & Memory on Mi’kma’ki, join us for an evening of panel discussion on the significance of craft as a means of remembrance, resistance, and passing on knowledge among Afro-diasporic communities on Treaty Land. The evening will feature curator Nahom Assefa and artist Sylvia D. Hamilton in conversation, moderated by Pamela Edmonds, the Director/Curator of Dalhousie Art Gallery.

The discussion will explore the background of the works in the show and their cultural and historical significance within Black communities that migrated, were displaced, and settled across various histories and routes of migration on unceded land, and the significance of exchange as a means of survival among these communities. The curator and artist will share their unique experiences, from the story of generational ties within the province's Black community to later arrivals in the 21st century, and the parallels they share. Join us as we explore what it means to remember the relationship that once helped us survive to now help us thrive.